'Love Makes You Do Some Silly Things': Locky Gilbert on Surviving 'The Bachelor'
Very few gigs cop more heat in Aussie entertainment than the Bachelor. To knowingly put yourself on national television where women fight and fawn over you; every peck discussed at length around dinner tables across the country for two months of the year..? It’s not exactly our idea of a fun time – nor does it seem like the best foundation for a relationship. But, according to Locky Gilbert, with great risk, comes great reward – and he's not just referring to those Instagram sponcon deals.
Ahead of the new season, we sat down with 10’s latest Bachelor and Survivor alum, Locky Gilbert, to go deep on his Bachelor experience: what he learned; how he sees things with former Survivor flame Brooke; his experience with falling in love with two people at once; and whether he really did find love on camera.
MTV Australia: So how are you feeling about things? The first episode of the new season is airing on Wednesday, right?
Locky: Yes. I'm super excited. I mean, it was, it was a crazy journey. It's been one of the hardest things I've ever done, but coming out of the end of it, I'm super happy with the outcome.
Becoming 'The Bachelor' is a big deal. Did you get any words of wisdom from previous Bachelors?
I talked to Matty J and he just said like, 'things are gonna happen'. There's going to be stories and all this kind of stuff. Just take it on the chin and things pass pretty quickly in the media world.
We wanted to ask you about former Bachelorette Angie Kent and her comments that she wished she said goodbye to some of the guys from her season sooner because they weren't on the show for 'the right reasons'. Were there any women on the show that you felt weren’t being genuine?
Obviously you go into it thinking that because that's the world we live in. But when I talked to the girls, everyone was so genuine.. I was there for the right reasons and I really thought they were as well. I really think the casting did an amazing job with every single one of those girls, [they] were amazing. I can't fault them.
How do you pick between the women, then? You have to make decisions quite quickly, especially on those first episodes…
It's pretty brutal. Like, you talk to any guys and they're like, 'Oh, that's a dream to be in a room with 20 odd women'. And I'm like, 'It is not. It is heartbreaking.' Like you've talked to these girls for a little while and you have to say goodbye to ‘em. It's quite heartbreaking.
Did you feel you had to live up to certain expectations of being ‘The Bachelor’?
When I went into it, I kind of knew that with previous Bachelors they were like trying to be this prim and proper Bachelor. And to be honest, that is not me. I am a big goofball. I don't think about what I'm doing. I just go into it with my gut and that's all I did. I was just being who I am. And I think that really came off. Like I'm a big lovable kind of teddy bear that just puts my heart out there. And hopefully I get that in return.
This isn't your first relationship on camera. Did you have any learnings from your experience with Brooke on Survivor?
I did team up with Brooke in Survivor, but it was kind of.. we were just there for each other to rely on. When we got off the show that kind of wasn't there anymore. So going into Bachelor, you couldn't really rely on just one sole person and give them everything, which if you did then everyone would be kind of jealous. So you kind of have to be open-minded and give everyone the same amount of attention.
Yeah, it’s a different kind of bonding experience, right?
Yeah, exactly. Like in Survivor you're trying to find that one person that you can just rely on that is there to help you, but where in Bachelor, you are trying to make that connection very openly and more of a long-term relationship. Not just someone that can help you out right now.
You made some comments around the fact that Brooke lived in Melbourne and you're from Perth and in Bali a fair bit and that affected things between you both. Did meeting people from different places on The Bachelor stress you out? Are you open to moving, because those are big decisions..
They're massive decisions. And, um, it did come into play, cause I travel a lot. I move around for work and obviously I want to find someone that has that same passion. So if there was someone that was [like] 'I live in, I live in Melbourne, my life's in Melbourne. I'll never leave Melbourne.' That is going to be a big thing for me. But I mean, you never know with true love. Love makes you do some silly things, as I've found out.
What were the biggest learnings from doing The Bachelor? Did you surprise yourself around how you reacted to different situations, like drama with the girls or anything like that?
Yeah, well I was lucky enough with the drama. I was kind of kept away from that because when I was with the girls, I was with the girls 110%. So I didn't really see much of the drama. What I kind of learned about myself was like, I can cry ... I haven't cried in years, but I definitely broke down [during filming] cause it is an emotional journey and you just need to let those feelings out.
In the promo you said that you fell in love with two people at once. Did you ever think you’d find yourself in that position?
It’s a hard, hard experience and there would be people out there that say that that can't happen. But with the Bachelor world, [I feel like] it's crazy if that didn't happen. You're put in these scenarios where I was talking to all the girls for nearly five, six months and that's all I was doing, I wasn't concentrating on anything else. [You're taking] amazing dates, you're with these people. And all you're doing is thinking about a future with these women. And if you didn't do that, then you're kind of not in it for the right reasons. I was trying to find the true love. And I did find that.
Are you still with the person that you chose in the end?
Yeah, I definitely am. And I will be for the rest of my life, I reckon. I'm just happy coming out of this. I never want to stop learning about myself and about my partner and about life and even coming out of this, we're still learning about each other and it's just getting better and better. Every single day I wake up happier knowing something new about my partner.
Are you allowed to be together right now?
We pretty much have to stay separate until the show's finished [airing], but because of COVID and I'm locked in my house, I can't even leave.
How was trying to get to know people virtually when the coronavirus restrictions were enforced, did it make finding a connection more difficult?
It was great that I met the girls in person [first] – I got that vibe, we built that connection and then we kind of went long-distance. So you already know that person, but now you get to tone it back a bit and just talk about nothing. Talk about things that you would never really talk about [on a normal Bachelor date], and that was very beneficial.
The Bachelor premieres tomorrow night at 7.30pm on Channel 10.
The above interview has been edited for clarity and shortened for space.
Main Image credit: PerthNow
